4.11.16

dutch oven bread!

Last Saturday night I baked up two boules of bread for the Lord's Supper the next morning at church.

Our leaders had a heart to really feast, taste, and feel the Lord's supper, and teenie tiny wafers and a thimble of wine aren't as visceral or symbolic. So now it's glasses of wine and big chunks of freshly baked bread, and it's beautiful.
I love that they care how we receive this sacrament and how much they
desire for it to help us reflect on the gospel. It was such a lovely, raw
service with people truly feasting together, confessing things to one
another, comforting each other, encouraging one another with the gospel, lots of hugs and prayers. It felt like such a family act, whereas sometimes the Lord's Supper can be very individualistic.

I shared a picture of one of the boules (not quite a loaf of bread because of it's circular shape) on Instagram, and a few of you asked for the recipe, so here it is!

Combine the yeast and the sugar in the bottom of the
bowl of a stand mixer and then pour the warm water over it (this is called proofing). Whisk it slightly, and let is rest for 10 minutes or so.

In a separate bowl mix 3 cups of the flour with the salt.

Add the flour mixture one cup at a time to stand mixer, with dough hook attached. The dough will be sticky, don't panic! Add in the rest of the flour slowly until the dough completely comes together in a ball. Let the
mixer knead the dough for a few minutes. Then dump the dough onto the
counter and continue to knead for about five minutes, or until the dough
is smooth. Kneading is basically playing with it with your hands and re-shaping it. It's fun and very kid-friendly and impossible to mess up, I promise.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with the Dutch oven inside.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover the top with a towel. Let is rise for 30 minutes.

Take out the ball of dough, that should have risen. Lightly coat
both the bottom and the top of the loaf with flour. Carefully remove the
Dutch oven from the oven and grease the bottom of the dutch oven with olive oil. Drop the dough in the
center of the Dutch oven. Cut a couple slits or an X on the top of the dough - I forgot to in the picture above.

Cook for 30 minutes covered. Then take off the lid and cook for another 5 minutes, until the top is golden and crunchy looking.